Four Downs with Bob Condotta and Adam Jude: Answering four questions after Seahawks’ confounding loss to the Bears

How are you feeling at this point, Seahawks fans? Upset? Confused? Nostalgic, maybe?

An already sour season got even worse for the Seahawks in their 25-24 defeat against the Chicago Bears at home, in the snow, leaving us with more head-shaking questions about this team and this organization’s direction. We ask a few more of those questions in our weekly Four Downs segment* with Bob Condotta and Adam Jude, and do our best to provide some answers here.

*recommended reading after a healthy dose of ibuprofen

1. We saw more speculation about Russell Wilson’s future from national media outlets Sunday (specifically CBSsports.com and The New York Post). All of this is only going to get even wilder in the next few weeks, isn’t it?

Condotta: Yes, it probably is. But the focus on Wilson overlooks what has to happen first — the Seahawks making a philosophical commitment to their offseason approach. Specifically, are they going to keep the John Schneider/Pete Carroll decision-making team intact? Just about any major question can’t be answered until we know who is calling the shots. The view here has always been that any rebuild probably doesn’t happen under Carroll, who is 70. Maybe there are ways to trade Wilson and not have it be perceived as a rebuild. But again, that’s what has to be figured out first. Do the Seahawks think this is a one-year blip and roll it back with the major players intact? Or do they start over? Tough questions without easy answers. And until there are some answers, the rumor mill will run rampant.

Jude: Oh, absolutely. Wilson invited all this attention and speculation when he went public with his frustrations last February. I’m not saying he was in the wrong, but I’m not sure he realized exactly what he created. Instead of focusing all their energy on fixing the offense, Wilson and Carroll worked overtime in the offseason to try to mend their relationship. Then each defeat this season further complicated matters. This is all coming to a head soon, but until there is a resolution, the rumors from the markets of every quarterback-needy team will continue to escalate.

2. A turning point in the game was when Wilson was sacked for a loss of 13 yards midway through the fourth quarter, ending a promising Seahawks drive. What did you make of that play?

Jude: It was vintage Wilson, the good and the bad. He’s trying to conjure up some of his old magic, and I’m not going to fault him for that. That kind of creative escapability is a big part of what has made Wilson great for so long. He hasn’t been the same player this season, in many ways, but it’s only one play in a meaningless game. Good teams should be able to overcome that. And this isn’t a good team, as the Seahawks have proven time and again.

Condotta: It’s probably getting a little bit too much focus. Jason Myers should still be able to make a 39-yard kick. And even despite that sack and the miss, Seattle got the ball back 2:17 later at the Bears’ 46 and then advanced to the 28 with 3:23 remaining. There were a lot of key moments in blowing this one, but Wilson is the player Seattle depends on to put these games away, and he made a decision that backfired. As Carroll noted on his radio show Monday, one factor is that it was a quick-hitting, three-step-drop play, and as such, Wilson has been instructed to get rid of the ball quickly if it’s not there because he is closer to the rush. Wilson pivoted out, hoping to buy time, he said, to try to find Tyler Lockett. He’s had a lot of success doing that through the years. But this was also a time when settling for the shorter field goal would have sufficed.

3. We’ve asked this before, but it’s worth asking again: Why has it been so difficult for the Seahawks to get DK Metcalf consistently involved in the offense?

Condotta: This continues to be such a confounding aspect of this season. It was obviously in the plan to get Metcalf involved early Sunday as he was the target of four of Wilson’s first five passes. Then he was targeted only once more in Wilson’s final 22 throws in the final 44 minutes of the game — the overthrow on a third-and-four on the first series of the third quarter. Wilson said later Metcalf was double-teamed a lot. But elite receivers always are, and teams either scheme a way to get them open more, the receiver figures out a way to beat the double-team more, or the quarterback throws it that way sometimes anyway and lets the receiver make a play. One thought is that Metcalf doesn’t get as many targets when Wilson scrambles as some other receivers do. One reason for that could be that he tends to run more longer routes, so he’s not in position for checkdowns. Regardless, it’s one of the many mysteries of a mysterious season.

Jude: Wilson said he and Metcalf have been working “every day” at their relationship. But part of the issue is Metcalf really hasn’t practiced much at all this season after suffering a foot injury in practice Sept. 30. The Seahawks downplayed that injury, but it has been a significant factor. Metcalf, too, has been working through some of his emotional outbursts — the competitive fire that makes him great but has also gotten him in trouble at times on the field. He’s still searching for that balance.

4. The Seahawks’ top three choices in the 2018 draft — Rashaad Penny, Rasheem Green and Will Dissly — will all be free agents after this season. See any of them coming back?

Jude: It would be smart for the Seahawks to bring all three of them back. When healthy, they’ve all been productive, and all three are highly regarded in the locker room. Green ought to be the top priority of this group. He had two more sacks Sunday, and four QB hits, and he leads the Seahawks with 6.5 sacks this season. At age 24, it feels like he is still just scratching the surface of what he can do.

Condotta: Assuming for now Carroll/Schneider are calling the shots, then I can see all three returning. I think all are players the Seahawks have hoped would be key parts of the future. Penny is finishing the season strong, but the running back market is always unpredictable. I’d imagine that, given his injury history, if Seattle made a move to re-sign him before free agency begins, they could get a deal done. Green might be trickier to re-sign as he now has 6.5 sacks with 3.5 in the past three games, and is just 24. Given the value of pass rushers, he might want to get to the market and see what happens. Both of Seattle’s top two tight ends — Dissly and Gerald Everett — can be free agents after the season, and you wouldn’t think the Seahawks want to start over at that position. I think that makes Dissly a priority to re-sign.